Storm Surge (Cyborg Shifters Book 2) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One:

  Chapter Two:

  Chapter Three:

  Chapter Four:

  Chapter Five:

  Chapter Six:

  Chapter Seven:

  Chapter Eight:

  Chapter Nine:

  Chapter Ten:

  Chapter Eleven:

  Chapter Twelve:

  Chapter Thirteen:

  Chapter Fourteen:

  Chapter Fifteen:

  Chapter Sixteen:

  Chapter Seventeen:

  Chapter Eighteen:

  Chapter Nineteen:

  Chapter Twenty:

  Chapter Twenty-One:

  Chapter Twenty-Two:

  Chapter Twenty-Three:

  Chapter Twenty-Four:

  Chapter Twenty-Five:

  Storm Surge

  Cyborg Shifters: Book Two

  ***

  By Naomi Lucas

  Copyright © 2017 by Naomi Lucas

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without permission in writing from the author.

  Any references to names, places, locales, and events are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, places, or events is purely coincidental.

  ***

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One:

  Chapter Two:

  Chapter Three:

  Chapter Four:

  Chapter Five:

  Chapter Six:

  Chapter Seven:

  Chapter Eight:

  Chapter Nine:

  Chapter Ten:

  Chapter Eleven:

  Chapter Twelve:

  Chapter Thirteen:

  Chapter Fourteen:

  Chapter Fifteen:

  Chapter Sixteen:

  Chapter Seventeen:

  Chapter Eighteen:

  Chapter Nineteen:

  Chapter Twenty:

  Chapter Twenty-One:

  Chapter Twenty-Two:

  Chapter Twenty-Three:

  Chapter Twenty-Four:

  Chapter Twenty-Five:

  Epilogue:

  Author’s Note

  Shark Bite

  Stranded in the Stars

  Last Call

  Collector of Souls

  Star Navigator

  (Coming Soon)

  Cyborg Shifters

  Wild Blood

  Storm Surge

  Shark Bite(Coming Soon)

  Chapter One:

  ***

  Norah rubbed her face on the sleeve of her t-shirt and sealed the last of her water samples in the plastic container.

  She took one last glance at the rows of small glass vials that accounted for the last half-year of her life before firmly closing the top. Robert took the box and placed it into another, larger box filled with coolers they had leisurely packed up.

  “That’s about it, those are the last samples I have of the local waterways.” She pulled the bottom of her shirt up and wiped the sweat that beaded on her face again.

  She had turned off the ventilation less than an hour ago and already the heat from the outside had filled the room. It didn’t help that the doors were open.

  Her lab was one of the last to be packed up into the shuttle. Not only because she had stalled but because water wasn’t as important as the bacteria, plant, and animal samples that they were bringing back to Earth.

  The entire research facility was being vacated.

  “Huh, thank god. All this just for water and soil samples. I can’t believe they’re shutting us down, Man, I hate the Man. But, damn, I can’t wait to get off this world.”

  Norah humphed back. “Can you blame them? At least they let us stay for the rest of the season. This place just isn’t ready to be colonized.” But to her it was paradise, and she wanted to stay.

  “It’s the Australia of the stars. Everything here wants to kill you, eat you, or inhabit your body. Could you imagine if normal people came to this place? It ain’t worth it. For fuck’s sake, stick to Earth, Tau-Ceti, and Gliese, or if you’re looking for adventure, settle on one of the lesser worlds.”

  “I heard Earth was once like this place: wild, lush, and green.” She caught herself before she went off on a rant.

  “Riiight, I also heard humans once didn’t know how to speak to each other.”

  Norah held back her frustration. She wished Robert would take the final box of samples and leave, but instead, he grabbed a water canister and opened it.

  “Colonization is not the only reason why we’re here. And I swear we’ll be back before the turn of the year,” she said.

  “Not me. I’ll shoot myself in the foot the day they announce the return mission. I hate this jungle.”

  Norah turned her back on him and began to power down her instruments. She purged the chromatograph and disconnected the pressurized lines to remove the silica column. There was no sense in letting it degrade.

  Water science wasn’t the most glamorous thing in the building, so her equipment felt all the more precious for it.

  She grabbed a rag and a bottle of acetone to wipe the glassware they were leaving behind. Norah looked at the beaker in her hand before she placed it into the cabinet.

  We’ll be back.

  It had taken her years to qualify for off-world colonization efforts.

  She was still in shock six months later to be on Axone and in her own lab. It barely counted as a closet in the facility but it had been hers. All hers.

  She wasn’t employed by the government per se, but for a private health corporation that was funded by the Earthian Planetary Exploration Division. Norah was part of a small team of scientists sent by EonMed to study the landscape, weather, and environmental shifts, as well as the plants and animals.

  Robert, on the-other-hand, was a botanist. And one would think, being on an undiscovered jungle planet–filled with new, alien plants–the man would be thrilled. But he wasn’t. Not after his girlfriend got bit by an unknown creature and was now slowly going blind back on Earth.

  The climate wasn’t great. It was hot. Humid. And every time you walked outside it was like being slapped by a big, wet blanket and it had only gotten worse with the encroaching storm.

  Norah didn’t want to leave.

  She didn’t care about the wildness of the jungle or the stuffy weather. It was everything she had hoped for and more. Axone was her Eden. It was a world that still had water, and not just the elemental substance–it existed as rivers, lakes, swamps, and even oceans that would have rivaled those of ancient Earth.

  It has rain.

  As a little girl raised in the shadows of giant skyscrapers, water was as unnatural amongst the old metal as it was natural on this world.

  Axone had invited her the moment she saw the landscape appear outside the window in her quarters on the ship.

  She remembered running her finger through the early morning dew her first two weeks planetside with awe.

  She turned around and faced her co-worker. “How’s Lindsey doing?”

  Robert leaned against the counter and wiped his mouth. “As well as she can be doing. She’s still stable and is going through therapy. It ain’t much but it’s something, and all we can do is look at the stars and hope.” He took a deep breath, “She’s doing okay.” Robert smiled. “She has no idea I plan to propose to her when we get back.”

  “I’m glad.” Norah smiled back. “That’ll give her something to look forward to. That is if she accepts,” she teased.

  “What’re you talking about? I’m a catch. You’re just jealous I ain’t proposing to you.” Rob
ert pointed a finger at her with mischief in his eye. “Anyway, yeah, been praying that this mission would be cut short. I’m homesick and I’m so damn thirsty all the time–I can’t stand this heat. She’s my home, Norah, and I hate that I can’t be there for her. Blasted contracts and all. Sorry for your sake though, maybe next time.”

  “Next time.” She turned away.

  Robert tossed his empty canister into the garbage receptacle and went to pick up the box.

  “Well, I’ll be heading back toward the ship to help the others. I tried to reach out to Soraya but she didn’t answer.” He shrugged.

  “Fighting over refrigeration space again, I’m sure.”

  “Wouldn’t be surprised. I hate being around for that. Are you sure there ain’t nothing else you want to pack up?” He looked around.

  There was only so much space on their ship and she wasn’t going to bring back excess and get caught up in the argument. Norah put another beaker away. “No. I have my backpack and I’ll bring that myself. After I finish cleaning, I’m going to the kitchen to help Andy.”

  “Gotcha. Seey–”

  The alarm system went off, cutting him short.

  Norah dropped the flask in her hand, shattering it. The sprinklers turned on, soaking them both within seconds, and the stink of stagnant water and chemicals filled her nose.

  “Shit! The box is getting wet.” Robert hunched over it and looked around for cover.

  “Put it under the table,” Norah rushed to help him, throwing out an emergency fire blanket to make space.

  A scream pierced the air, sailing just above the high-pitched alarm system. Robert dropped the box hard enough she could almost hear her samples shatter.

  Norah gritted her teeth and pushed the box in as her co-worker unhooked the pistol at his hip and turned to face the door.

  “Did you hear that?” Norah asked, reaching to unclip her own gun.

  “The scream? Yeah, I heard it.”

  Her boots became waterlogged as she stepped toward the open door with Robert.

  The horrible screams ended abruptly leaving nothing but the steady sprinkle of water and the sirens in its wake. Despite the blaring screech, the sudden absence of the screams left an oppressive, ominous silence...

  Yells filled the space next followed by several gunshots. Norah covered her eyes from the water.

  “What the hell is happening?” Robert turned his safety off as they both peered down the corridor together. It was utterly normal, except for the water coming from the ceiling.

  “I don’t know. I think we should lock ourselves in and wait,” she suggested, uneasy.

  “I think we should investigate. Someone could be hurt and they may need our help.”

  One of the scientists, Dr. Ludland, ran by at the end of the hallway, screaming bloody-murder. He was gone in a blur.

  Norah backed up and around the corner, fear clogging her throat, adrenaline pumping through her heart.

  “Ludland!” Robert called after him. But was only answered by the guttural yelp of a dying man. Even from where she stood, she could hear the snap of bone and the moist slap of flesh hitting the concrete floor. She and Robert shared a wide-eyed look. Something's wrong. Something's very wrong.

  That moment when confusion became terror.

  “Isn’t Ludland supposed to be at the ship?” she yelled, but Robert didn’t answer. “Robert, close the fucking door!”

  The lights went out.

  “Norah, we gotta get out of here.”

  Her eyes dilated, adjusting to the sudden darkness.

  She couldn’t see it, but she could hear it. The whistling howls of something approaching, something that wasn’t human, coming closer with each shriek.

  Norah bent over and covered her ears, her head began to pound. She wiped blood from under her nose. It was hot, unlike the water. Everything happened in slow motion as a terrible pain wormed its way across her skull.

  She reached out for her friend and stumbled. She couldn’t see. Her boot caught on something on the ground.

  “Robert,” she moaned, trying to find him in the dark.

  Her head felt as if it was going to explode. The room was still open.

  Norah dropped her gun and grappled forward until her hand hit the warm plastic of the panel. She crawled to the door. Softly, slowly, with tensed muscles, she closed it. The horrible shrieks deadened enough for her to reach up and lock them in.

  Something hit the outside of the it, and she was neither stupid nor brave enough to check to see if it was another person.

  “Robert?” she cried but got no answer.

  Something clawed at the barrier.

  The last thing she remembered was her cheek hitting the wall, a scream filling her ears before her body curled up and the darkness took over.

  ***

  Stryker wasn’t one to take chances. In fact, he thought himself as being as calculating as any normal Cyborg, and that was saying something. He had a plethora of animal DNA coursing through him. Well, not so much animal as reptile.

  He stretched his arms out and cracked his knuckles, watching the stars fly by as he warped into the Euthenia Galaxy. His ship hissed during the transition before it fell back into its state of silence.

  He settled into his seat and checked his ship for any irregularities. When he was finished he enabled auto-pilot and afterward, he hailed Gunner. And waited.

  And waited some more.

  Stryker narrowed his eyes at the communications screen and bore a figurative a hole through it with his eyes.

  Fucking Hell, Gunner. Answer the damn call.

  He rubbed his hand over the creases of his mouth and stood up, feeling the iron-clad armored suit he wore strain over his body. He left the bridge behind without a backward glance and headed toward the hull.

  The milky-white passageways reflected the white lights running down the sides, giving off a cold vibrancy to his battlecruiser. The pale silver wall panels curved into a circle and, at the apex, was a large metal door. It was the biggest door on his ship and faced the long passageway he was walking down. It also faced his bridge.

  His ship looked like a giant magnifying glass, the bridge at the tip, his lab at the back.

  It was one of the smallest in the EPED’s fleet.

  He entered through the door and looked out over the hold where giant glass and metal cages sat in perfect symmetry, forming a temporary menagerie. Every enclosure, except four, contained monsters he’d captured throughout the universe. His ears popped from the quiet vacuum of his gallery.

  Once, he'd had a crew of twenty aboard his vessel but one by one they had left his service, burdened by the extended amount of time spent in space.

  Now, only one remained; Stryker couldn’t be bothered to recruit more. They would just leave like the others.

  After all, his time was valuable. He was the best monster hunter in the Earthian Planetary Exploration Division. He made a lot of money, and he had used the money to upgrade the White Light so that it could maintain itself.

  Without humans and without interference.

  His shadow loomed over Matt, casting his only companion in darkness. Stryker was greeted by snores.

  A trickle of drool slipped out of Matt’s mouth, over the stubble of his chin, only to end in a wet stain on his collarbone.

  Incompetence. First Gunner and now Matt? He lifted the heavy metal band that hung around his neck and sealed it over his nose and mouth.

  “Watering your shirt again, I see.” His voice deadened by the barrier.

  Matt twitched awake and lifted his head, meeting his eyes, crusty with dehydration and bloodshot.

  His last remaining crew member groaned and cupped his forehead. “Watering anything and everything. What the–my head–bloody hell! I hate these lights.”

  Stryker glanced away from Matt, who was grumbling himself awake with a series of expletives. The man sat in a cushy chair at the front of the habitats with a semi-circle of consoles and screens around
him. Each screen linked up with one enclosure.

  “I hate this chair. I hate this quiet. I really dislike you,” Matt continued at his back.

  “I dislike you too.”

  Matt rose and stood by his side. “Are we having a moment, Stryker? Because if we are, I didn’t plan any lies.”

  “You reek of body odor and grease–go shower before I throw you out of the airlock. You’re stinking up my ship.” Like all shifter Cyborgs, Stryker had a great sense of smell.

  “Aww man, you’re gonna make me blush.” Matt snickered then sobered, “The Wieraptor won’t go down.”

  They stared in unison at the monster that, in turn, watched them back. It was a beast that weighed several tons and had four hooked horns that speared out from under its gigantic head. It had more teeth descending its throat in nasty rows than a legion of sharks had.

  No amount of tranquilizers seemed to pacify it.

  They had to combine the two largest enclosures to hold it. If one could see hate, instead of just feeling it, the Wieraptor would be what it looked like.

  It watched them with the promise of death in its eyes.

  “Double the dosage,” Stryker said absently as he walked around the reinforced glass.

  “Already have.”

  “Double it again.”

  “Shit, man, we’ll run out of the stuff before we get back to Earth.” Matt walked back to his throne of screens and typed something in. A mist filled up the cage until the beast vanished. “Dumbass scientists think they can subdue this thing. Dumbass scientists going to get us all killed.”

  “We’ll make sure the check clears before we let if off the ship then.”

  Stryker had wondered the same thing.

  The Wieraptor had almost beaten him and tarnished his pristine record; if that were possible, then how could some of the weakest humans hold it down? Scientists exercised their minds, not so much their bodies.

  The mist cleared to reveal the beast sleeping, not peacefully, in the middle of the enclosure.

  He looked down at the jagged tears still healing across the backs of his hands.

  The Wieraptor had made the mistake of eating him, tearing his muscled body to shreds, thinking it had won against a Cyborg. But its stomach wasn’t protected like its outer shell was and when Stryker removed the band from his face, while in the beast’s gut, the Wieraptor vomited him up and passed out.